'Clone Wars': Simon Pegg to play bounty hunter Dengar

Simon Pegg is giving Christopher Lee and Julian Glover a run for their money as an all-time franchise hopper. That’s because the Mission: Impossible and Star Trek star is finally set to make his trip to that Galaxy Far, Far Away. This Friday on Star Wars: The Clone Wars (check out our recaps here!), he’s playing Dengar, one of the bounty hunters that Darth Vader summons to track down the Millennium Falcon in The Empire Strikes Back.

“Dengar is one of the elite,” Pegg tells EW. “If you’re on Darth Vader’s bounty-hunter speed dial, you are the best in the galaxy.” Sure, we only see Dengar for the briefest of moments in the movie, but like IG-88, Bossk, or Zuckuss, the mummy-wrapped bounty hunter has accumulated a massive cult following over the years. Not to mention one amazing Robot Chicken parody. EW’s got your very first look at Dengar in action. Check out the clip from this Friday’s episode, “Bounty,” after the break:

Now, Pegg’s involvement on The Clone Wars may come as a surprise. Anyone who’s seen his British sitcom Spaced or read his Twitter feed knows that he has some very, shall we say, strong feelings about latter-day Star Wars, particularly The Phantom Menace. (One recent tweet: “Enjoyed Hugo, despite almost being ruined by Phantom Menace 3D trailer. Come and revisit the most disappointing 2 hours of your life, in 3D!”) But, hey, he criticizes because he loves. As he tells EW, “It was a total honor to play this mysterious, hard man from my favorite Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back.”

In “Bounty,” Dengar teams up with Boba Fett, Bossk, and bounty-hunter newbie Asajj Ventress to protect a valuable shipment being sent through the interior of a planet via hover rail. Of course, forces conspire to pry this precious cargo from their greedy fingers. Think of it like The Great Train Robbery, as directed by George Lucas.

If you’re a diehard Star Wars fanatic — and, if you’re reading this, you most likely are — you’ll know Dengar proved an early nemesis of Han Solo. That’s because, like Solo, he hailed from Corellia and made an early splash on the swoop-racing circuit. Later when he became a bounty hunter, and from “Bounty” it seems like he’s at his prime during the Clone Wars, he received cybernetic implants to enhance his auditory and visual capabilities. So he ended up wearing these mummy rags, not out of some salute to bag-lady couture, but to conceal his “enhancements.”

Be sure to join us for a live chat on EW.com this Friday starting at 7:40 p.m. ET with none other than Boba Fett himself, Daniel Logan. Not only does Logan voice the Fettmeister on The Clone Wars, he played him on screen in Attack of the Clones. So get your questions for him ready!